The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro have been announced in China, and they’re actually much more affordable than in the US and Europe. One of the main complaints about the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro is the price hike that they brought to the table, so this is quite interesting.
The OnePlus 8 starts at CNY3,999 ($565) in China, while the ‘Pro’ model starts at CNY5,399 ($765). For comparison’s sake, the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro start at $699 and $899 in the US, respectively.
In Europe, the situation is even worse. The cheapest OnePlus 8 can be purchased for €729 ($791), while the OnePlus 8 Pro starts at €929 ($1,008) there.
The OnePlus 8 series is much more affordable in the company’s homeland
So, as you can see, these are quite considerable price hikes. That represents price hikes of $134 for the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro in the UK, and $226 and $243 for the two base models in Europe.
Why is that? Well, there’s VAT to account for in the US, plus the exchange rates. On top of that, logistics costs are also something to consider, and also importing as well.
Is that enough to justify such huge price differences? Well, we can’t say for sure. It is possible that the company is simply aware of the competition in China, so it decided to offer the cheapest solutions possible. On the other hand, it’s possible that these price hikes are justifiable due to all those costs.
Whatever the case may be, OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are much more affordable in the company’s homeland, China. The two phones are in the big leagues now, in every way possible, especially the ‘Pro’ model.
The OnePlus 8 Pro can compete with every other flagship out there, head-to-head, spec-for-spec. The company finally included IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. On top of that, the phone now supports 30W wireless charging as well.
Consumers have been asking for those features for years now. The company finally delivered, even if that meant a huge price hike. There’s also the 5G to take into account.
Qualcomm’s 5G-only Snapdragon 865 variants are also a part of the problem
Qualcomm is not selling 4G variants of the Snapdragon 865. Only variants that come bundled in with the Snapdragon X55 modem for 5G connectivity. That means that both OnePlus 8 devices do support 5G, but that doesn’t come cheap.
The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are already available to pre-order in both Europe and the US. Well, both phones have been sold out in the US, so they’re not technically available any longer. If you’re interested in purchasing the two phones, click here, and find out more.
The two phones are similar in the design department, while they’re also fueled by the same SoC. They also run the same software, basically. There are quite a few spec differences, though, and the OnePlus 8 Pro offers a more powerful camera setup.